Alien (1979)

In space... no one can hear anything but my annoying nasally voice yelling at my wife and best friend about how much I love Alien! Written by Dan O'Bannon and Ronald Shusett, the film was O'Bannon's reintroduction to Hollywood after living in a think-tank on the ill-fated Jodorowsky's Dune. The time abroad served invaluable, as it introduced him to H.R. Giger and his hideously sexual brooding art that would take an admittedly lacking story and turn it into a classic with the help of director, Ridley Scott. Hot off the moderate success of The Duelists, Scott decided to leave the Napoleonic era long in the past, delving into a gritty, industrial future. Between Giger and O'Bannon (who did set design for Dark Star and Star Wars) the film has an unmistakable aesthetic, which was captured perfectly by Scott, much to the chagrin of some of his actors. For instance, Tom Skerritt, was openly critical of Scott taking so long to set up shots, because he fell out of character. The film stars Sigourney Weaver as Ellen Ripley. Aside from a part in Madman (which you can see was later aggrandized after the success of Alien) Weaver was predominantly a theater actor. She would go on to make more than the budget of this entire film to appear in the sequel: Aliens. She would go on to star in four installments of this series, which has grossed over $1,000,000,000 in her lifetime. Listen as we discuss the practical effects, such as the design of the Nostromo and the Space Jockey, and the ingenuity of using real animal parts in the facehugger's eggsack. Did you know that they used condoms in making the xenomorph? Well don't worry, because Jake mentions it like 10 times throughout this episode. We also discuss some of the deleted scenes and the infamous alternate ending that was luckily scrapped. If you ever have feedback or recommendations on future episodes, please let us know at [email protected]. You can always find us on our social media: Instagram, Twitter, Slasher App: @slasherspod Facebook: /slasherspod Reddit: u/slasherspod https://www.youtube.com/c/slasherspodcast sci fi, outer space, spaceship, extraterrestrials, android, monster, creature feature, jaws, danzig mother, A.E. Van Vogt, Discord in Scarlet, Voyage of the Space Beagle, Prometheus, Alien 3, Alien Resurrection, Alien vs. Predator, AVP, Alien Covenant, Forbidden Planet, Planet of the Vampires, Junkyard, Strange Relations, EC Comics, Ron Cobb, future, survival, Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices